


All Bad Things Come to an End

by cataclysmicallyAmbiguous



Category: Homestuck, MS Paint Adventures
Genre: Abusive Parents, Abusive Relationships, Alternate Universe - No Sburb/Sgrub Sessions, Drugs, Humanstuck, Implied/Referenced Self-Harm, Mental Illness, Multi, Polyamory, Trans Characters, aro/ace/aroace characters, but it is sad., friendship and moving forward is actually probably the biggest theme, ill add tags now and then, nonbinary characters - Freeform, not as sad as it looks okay
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2015-04-05
Updated: 2015-06-12
Packaged: 2018-03-21 11:11:16
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death
Chapters: 4
Words: 11,472
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3690066
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/cataclysmicallyAmbiguous/pseuds/cataclysmicallyAmbiguous
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>In an age like this, angering the wrong people may just cause you to wind up dead in an alley way, with no one caring to look for you.<br/>It's a city like this that'll turn you inside out and bury you six feet underground.<br/>It's a life like yours where you have to bundle up and run from the things that bind you and hope a chain doesn't snap you backwards into the hell you'd finally broken free of.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Leaving the Past Behind

**Author's Note:**

> this is probably going to be a pretty long fic so get ready i guess?? the erisol wont show up for a good bit but thats mostly because it isnt really that relevant to the plot, whoops. this is my first fic that ive had the courage to publish, so be gentle pls. every now and then there will be pictures because i draw sometimes. i dont know how to work the message system on this site and i wont be logged in much other than to post chapters, so if you have any questions, you can hit me an ask on my tumblr (url is hopefucker360) or ill be tracking the tag #abtce  
> feferis username in this is cuttlefishCuddler bc the "culler" didnt really make since in a human setting.  
> there wont be any directly stated smut; the rating is due to the fact that theres probably going to end up being a lot of disturbing content for certain people. I'll put content warnings in the notes for each chapter.  
> Speaking of, lets get to it, shall we?  
> CW for chapter: physical abuse, mentions of self-harm, mentions of guns

Two friends left you at once. Two friends, who you had known for most of your life. One trailed right behind the other and left you stranded.

It didn’t hit you at first. You didn’t break down sobbing or begging for them to come back. There was plenty of build-up, after all; you were the one who had pushed them over the edge. You figured, maybe they would come back and work out the kinks in your friendship, maybe it’d end up being better than it was before.

It wasn’t until you got on the next day and noticed the lack of two screen names – one fuchsia, the other gray – that you realized you had ended two of your longest and deepest friendships. You felt an achingly familiar emptiness swallow you whole from the inside out as you gently pushed your laptop away. The gaps were too painful to stare at.

There were a lot of gaps in that list that weren’t there before. It had started out as a pretty rainbow with only a few bright, stray colors. Back when you were all in middle school and all exchanged usernames via mutual friends. You didn’t talk to most of them. There were some that you used to, but of course, those were where the gaps were.

You repeated exactly how this had happened in your head.

 

It all began with Feferi. You had met her – along with Karkat – in kindergarten, back when there wasn’t a thing in the world that could stop such innocent friendships from blooming. Feferi had shared some of her animal crackers with you on the playground and the pact had been formed.

But of course, you two grew up, and trips to the aquarium on Saturday with Fef, her big sister Meenah, and your step-sister Vriska, stopped being fun. When you got older, Fef treating you like a toddler she was babysitting became irritating and condescending.  At one point, you thought you were in love with her, but you felt it was childish and naïve. You grew out of it the moment you realized she would never reciprocate, even if it left you a bit heartbroken.

Feferi didn’t seem to really understand you at all, even when she thought she did. She didn’t understand why you’d lock yourself in your room and refuse to answer her messages after having a nasty fight with your parents. She didn’t understand why you wore long-sleeved shirts in the hot months of summer or why you refused to let her drag you around by the arm. She didn’t understand why you felt her unfaltering optimism was almost aggressive, why you started sharing less and less of your life with her.

You thought Karkat understood. You really did, but apparently, you had been reading him wrong the entire time. He always seemed to be far too commanding, and never really accepted that he was wrong about something. A real god-like complex, if you had to describe it. His aggressive ranting and creative insults could have been funny, had they not left you and the rest of his friends in turmoil.

The two of them had finally grown tired of you. Feferi had gone first, when she pried a bit too hard to find out what your parents had said to you earlier that day. The moment you told her – for the third time that week – that you didn’t want to talk, she snapped, exclaiming how you were always whining and moping, how she was exhausted from having to keep your head above water all the time, how she was only pulling herself down trying to keep you happy. And you couldn’t take it anymore. You’d told her time and time again that you couldn’t be “fixed”, that you were doomed to drown in your own misery and take everyone you knew down with you.

You were tired of her, too. You were tired of her constantly sharing your life story with the rest of her friends, tired of her making your mental state into some bubbly cutesy thing that she’d patch up with some pretty pink duct tape and then send you on your merry way. There were times when you loved her, and times when you hated her. You couldn’t keep switching back and forth. Part of you wanted her gone for good out of your life, both for you and her own sake. The other part of you was terrified throughout the whole conversation, knowing that you wouldn’t be the same with her gone.

Karkat left right after her. She must’ve gone to him right after blocking you, because before you knew it, your computer screen was assaulted with large chunks of blocky gray text, all in caps lock. He blew the fuck up on you, like you knew he would. You wanted to cry by this point, and yet you couldn’t feel your eyes water. The heavy sinking in your chest was more than enough to replace that, though. He finished his bombast and blocked you before you even had a chance to type one word.

You didn’t know how to react. You couldn’t. That hadn’t just happened. They were still your friends. They would forgive you, and you would forgive them, just like it had always been. Nothing had changed. Nothing had changed.

Two hours passed as you stared at your screen in silence. Waiting for the message,

cuttlefishCuddler [CC] has unblocked caligulasAquarium [CA]

or

CG: ARE WE STILL FRIENDS?

But they never came.

You fell back, feeling emptiness replace melancholy. You did your best to remember some people who still cared about you and would continue to do so unconditionally.

 

One day in sixth grade, Karkat invited you to the mall with a group of his friends. That was the day you met Jade Harley, an island girl with a passion for science, flora, and cute things. She reminded you of a more down-to-earth Feferi, in a way that made you feel at peace in her presence. There was a lot about her that made her stand out in that small group, from how she wore colorful threads of yarn around her fingers to how – even though she appeared spaced out – she seemed to have knowledge in just about everything. Just the vibe she gave off made her seem like the kind of person you’d have to be a huge asshole to hate.

By the end of that day, when the group headed back to Karkat’s place for dinner, Jade had brought up something Karkat had done the other day and he completely blew up about it; yelling about how that was “past” him, how he’d changed since then, how Jade of all people should have known. Everybody in the room stared on in silent horror as he continued rambling and ranting, to the point where nobody knew what he was talking about.

He finally finished. Jade looked as though somebody had stabbed her. She stood up slowly, black bangs covering her eyes, and walked out of the house without another word.

Nobody bothered to get up. They all sat in silence, until Karkat started asking why everyone was looking at him in the same way you’d look at a person who’d shot a puppy.

You got up and left while he barked, running after Jade once you spotted her further down the street. After a while you caught up to her. She had her arms crossed and her eyes were half-lidded behind her glasses, staring intently at the ground she walked across. 

You were pretty sure she didn’t notice you, so you stayed quiet and walked with her. You two ended up at one of those twenty-four/seven breakfast diners, the sun having long set by the time you arrived. Even though you hadn’t asked, she ended up buying you a plate of pancakes and a cup of coffee, too.

The atmosphere was pretty calming; the diner was respectably clean, mostly tan in color with a few splotches of burgundy for booths. The golden light that illuminated it contrasted well with the pitch night outside.  You sat in silence for a good few minutes, the only noise being the soft music played over the diner’s stereo.

She was the first to speak up. “Why did you follow me?” Her voice was hoarse, as though she had been crying, though her eyes were dry.

You didn’t know how to talk to people, so you generally put up an aggressive façade, but you knew it to be inappropriate in this case. You tried your best to sound normal. “Because I sure as fuck w-wasn’t goin’ ta’ hang around Kar after that outburst. Figured you might need company. I’ll leawe, if you w-want.” Shit, your speech impediment was fucking with you again.

She shook her head slightly. “No, it’s alright,” she sipped her coffee before continuing, “Though I don’t think I’ll be speaking to Karkat much anymore.”

You gazed out the window, watching cars pass down the street. “’Can’t say I blame you.”

The two of you carried on chatting, and you noticed Jade’s mood slowly start to elevate. The two of you ranted about Karkat for a good while before changing subjects. You found out that she had a lot of the same interests as you, sharing a fondness for science and guns.

Talking to her was much more relaxing than talking to Feferi or Karkat; even when she got carried away and ending up babbling, she’d let you do the same without hesitation. It was calming and let you vent, so you didn’t hesitate to exchange chumhandles with her as you two left the diner before the day ended.

The two of you grew to be close friends. She told you about how fun her time on the island had been and how shocked she was when she moved to Alternia and saw how different the city life was, how she’d never seen so many people who looked so different, how it was actually sort of terrifying. You taught her a lot about history, though she found it boring, so when you ended up talking for three hours about the French Revolution, she made sure to do the same to you when she told you the entire plot of Squiddles with in-depth character analysis included.

You ended up giving her one of your old rifles that inherited from your father back in his military days, the cerulean sniper that had been dinged up and scratched beyond believe, but still fired and could definitely kill. She thought it was a piece of junk, and you half-expected her to throw it in the garbage, but she kept it and took care of it for your sake.

You hoped that, even if you lost every other friend you had ever made, that you would never lose Jade.

 

You snapped back to an unpleasant reality the moment your brother rapped on your bedroom door.

“Yo chief, Pops wants ya’ to come down ta’ dinner for once.”

 You sighed deeply. Seldom did you ever leave your room, especially on nights like this when your step mother – lovingly dubbed “Mindfang” by Vriska – was home from work. You nervously muttered an “okay” and shut down your laptop, stuffing your phone into your pocket instead.

Everyone else was already at the table. The atmosphere was tense; it always was your father, “Dualscar”, was around. Mindfang always seemed to accentuate it with her constant smug grin and a venomous voice that had left permanent wounds on whoever it bit. Vriska would just sit there and throw in an insult whenever unnecessary, flipping her blue-black hair and just being generally unpleasant; tossing spiders on people, be they real or fake, breaking Tavros's legs and hospitalizing Aradia in a LARPing incident, and manipulating everyone she met to meet her personal demands.

Cronus wasn't quite as bad, but he certainly wasn't your role model. He had a nasty habit of hitting on everyone he met, including you at one point, which made you uncomfortable in more ways than one. He was incredibly insensitive to those he didn’t like and tried to use your family’s wealth as an excuse to do whatever he wanted, though all three of the above usually resulted in him getting his ass kicked. You gave him some credit, though. He tried to be good big brother when he could. He never hesitated to give you a ride when you needed to get out, and every now and then he’d defend you when arguments with your parents were taken a bit too far.

They all sat in silence until Dualscar spoke up. And, of course, it was directed at you.

“Eridan, for God’s sake, what the fuck has you mopin' around this time? It’s fuckin' embarassin'.”

You refused to look at him, instead training your gaze at your food. You kept your mouth shut; that always seemed to get you one of two things, ignored or berated further.

And, just your luck, you got the latter.

“Don’t fucking ignore me, brat. I’m not lettin' some fuckin' wimp like you ruin my surname.” 

You grit your teeth and moved your hand from a fork to a knife beside it, clenching hard.

“Aw, am I upsetting you? You see, that’s exactly what your fucking problem is. You can’t handle the truth, and you can’t handle bein’ disciplined. I provide you with all the fuckin’ money you could possibly need to get through your shitty life, an’ yet you can’t even fuckin’ answer your own father when he’s speakin’ to you.”

You trailed down the blade of the knife and pinched its sides between your thumb and index finger.

“Are you even fuckin’ listening to me? How do you expect to survive in the real world, actin’ like this? Nobody’s gonna take this shit. You’re old enough to live on your own now, and yet here you fuckin’ are, leechin’ off ‘a me like a damn parasi—“

Before you could even register your own movements, you’d sent the knife flipping through the air, landing in the wall only a few centimeters to the left of your father’s head.

Shit.

He was speechless for a moment. Everything went silent; all eyes were on you. You met your father’s gaze, already trembling as his expression faded from mild shock into blistering anger.

The entire table shook as he stood up and stomped over to you, grabbing you by the hair and yanking you out of your seat. You felt your blood ice over. He dropped you on your feet only to vice grip your throat and slam you against a wall, knocking down a couple of picture frames that had been hanging.

“I’ve had **enough** of your **shit**.” His voice resounded in your bones and his icy gaze made you feel as though you were already dead. You made a small attempt to scratch at his arms with what bit of strength you had left, to no avail. His grip tightened and your vision began to flicker, your body seizing up in need of air.

You cracked a weak smirk.

He countered by punching you hard in the jaw and dropping you roughly. Your body was too weak to stand on its own and you ended up collapsing, breathing labored. Cronus ran over to you, only to be backhanded by your father.

Dualscar cast a challenging glare around everyone in the room, as if daring someone else to stand up. Vriska yawned, unamused. It seemed things like this were a norm.

Your father turned on his heel and stomped out, ripping his keys off their place on a lamp by the door.

Cronus looked down at you, eyes wide in an unreadable emotion.

You stood up slowly and he helped you keep your balance. You blinked, trying to figure out just how badly your father fucked you up. You noticed your glasses were badly cracked once your vision refocused, and after you brought a couple fingers to your mouth, you found that your lip was busted, iron blood trickling down your chin.

Cronus opened his mouth to say something, but you waved him off. Walking up stairs, you took out your phone and pestered the first person you could think of.

\-- caligulasAquarium [CA] began pestering gardenGnostic [GG] --

CA: hey jade

GG: hey eridan

GG: whats up?

CA: do you think i could stay with you an nep for a while

GG: of course, but…

GG: why? :o

GG: did something bad happen?

CA: you could say that

CA: its alright for me to come over right

GG: yeah, duh :p

CA: then ill tell you when i get there

GG: oh, ok

GG: are you leaving now then?

CA: as soon as mindfang and vris are somewhere where they wont notice me leavin

GG: ok then

GG: be careful alright?

GG: see you when you get here, i guess

CA: see ya

\-- caligulasAquarium [CA] ceased pestering gardenGnostic [GG] --

You sighed, trying to breathe out any nervousness you had left in you.

Today you lost two of your longest friendships, and now you were going to lose your family. You started packing what you all you were keeping in your old high school backpack, which ended up just being your laptop, some clothes, a few personal belongings, and what few games and movies you actually owned that your father wouldn't hunt you down for taking.

Cronus caught you on your way back down stairs and gave you a knowing gaze. He walked over to you and patted your shoulder before pulling you into a tight hug.

“’Gonna miss you, chief.  Make sure you call me, dammit.”

You nodded. If you were going to run, you needed to do it now, before your dad got back. You waved goodbye to Cronus and stepped outside, shivering as the last cold air of winter whipped against your face.  You got on your violet bike with small white seahorse decals and began pedaling over to Jade’s, sticking to the sidewalk.

Luckily, your family lived on the wealthy outskirts of town, so the ride to the base of the mountain where Jade lived wasn't too long or unpleasant. It was nearly midnight, so the only people driving were those who were running late night errands.

Eventually you made it to the slope that led up to Jade’s place, along with a few other people who lived up in the wooded hills. It was a pretty gorgeous part of town; the streets were smooth and had small lamps dotting the sides of the road, and the occasional expensive lamppost that you half-expected to have real flames flickering in the glass.

You figured that you wouldn't be a part of the rich segment of town anymore. You knew that as soon as he learned of your disappearance, your father would immediately withdraw all the money he left in your bank account.

You finally rolled up to Jade’s house. This was it. Your life wasn't going to be the same anymore. You wouldn't have to deal with your father and stepmother’s bullshit any longer, but in the same respect you no longer had the knowledge that your future was secure. From this night onward, everyday would start off unknown.

You could only hope that was a good thing as you knocked on Jade’s door and left your past behind you.


	2. Jade's Pseudo Coffee Shop for Runaways

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> i didnt get to proofread this as thoroughly as i wouldve liked, so there might be some mistakes, ill edit them out later :v  
> CW for chapter: mentions of alcoholism, mentions of abuse

Nepeta had been the one to answer the door, her cat Ponce de Leon asleep in her arms. Her expression saddened once she saw the state you were in; obsidian hair wild and tangled by the wind, silver eyes dull and empty behind shattered glasses, along with a bruised and bloodied mouth to top it all off.

“Hey, Nep.” Your voice was rough from the combination of being strangled a few hours ago and the cold air that chilled your throat during your ride up the mountain.

“Oh my God, Eridan - come inside, now.” She reached out to touch your shoulder, but retracted her hand when she saw you flinch. You didn’t know Nepeta very well, you just knew she moved in to help pay bills after Jade’s cousin, Jake, moved out. You figured, if she got along with Jade well, she couldn’t be too bad. She wore a baggy shirt with a bug-eyed cat on the front, so you came to the conclusion that she connected with Jade’s love for animals rather than science and guns.

You followed her in, pleased to be met with the calm atmosphere that resided in Jade’s house. It was a pale orange in color, with vivid, lively plants of all types hanging from the unnecessarily tall ceiling. There were occasional piles of soil, paw prints from where Bec or Ponce had jumped in the planters, and random objects such as _Warriors_ books or Squiddles plushies scattered around the room, but other than that, the house was surprisingly clean. It had a balcony across from the entrance, separated by the living room.

Jade was already seated on the couch, brushing her damp hair and tying it in a low ponytail. She waved you over.

You sat beside her and noticed she had a first aid kit next to her tea on the coffee table. You gave her a questioning look.

“I figured the worst.” She always had this strange, practically omnipotent way of knowing what had happened, even without any details. She opened the kit and pulled out a cotton ball, dampening it with a disinfectant before handing it to you. You patted it on your lip before reaching for a band-aid to take its place.

“What exactly happened?” Her voice was cautious. You knew that Jade wouldn’t press on if you didn’t want to talk.

“We were eatin’ dinner an’ dad treaded where he shouldn’t have. I… sort a’ threw a knife at him.”  
Jade nearly choked on her tea. You went on after she stopped coughing and motioned for you to continue. “He ended up ripping me out a’ my chair and damn near choked me to death. He went off on Cro an’ drove off somewhere, so I took what little time I had to finally bail the fuck out a’ that shithole.”

She hummed in thought. “And before that?”

Again with the all-knowing.

You gulped. “…Fef and Kar blocked me.”

She sat up and raised a brow in mild confusion. “Really? It’s not surprising for Karkat, but Feferi? I thought you two were on good terms?”

You shook your head. “She said I was exhaustin’. I just… I’m not really sure what I’ll do now. I mean, I’ve known them for most a’ my life. I don’t know what I’ll do without them.”

“I’m sure you’ll be friends again,” she mused.

Your gaze darkened. “For once, I think you might be wrong.”

Nepeta returned with two cups of tea, handing one over to you as she sat down by Jade. “Well, you’re welcome to stay here for a month or two. I’d say longer, but…”

Jade continued where Nep left off. “We barely make enough money to house two people - let alone three - and Nepeta got fired the other day. I mean, if you can get a job, then you can stay as long as you want, but other than that, we just can’t afford anything over a couple of months.”

You nodded in understanding. “I can try, but I can’t guarantee anythin’.”

Jade made an attempt to smile. “Okay. You should probably get some rest, then; it’s been a long day, after all. And if anyone comes looking for you, we haven’t heard from you in days. Don’t worry.”

You gave another weak nod and stood up. Nepeta motioned for you to follow her and led you to a spare room near an emptier portion of the house. She turned to you, hazel eyes filled with concern. “Hey. It’ll be okay, alright? I purromise.”

You tried to laugh at the cat pun she attached to the end. “I doubt that, but thanks for at least tryin’ to cheer me up.”

She then left you alone in the room. You sighed and took off your backpack, not bothering to take anything out. You took off your shoes and curled up in the bed, fatigued.

And of course, the moment you didn’t have someone talking to you to keep your thoughts preoccupied, the same emptiness that kept coming back like a bad cold would flood over you again. You ended up lying in bed for two hours, still replaying the day’s events in your head.

 

The slamming of the front door woke you up far earlier than you would’ve liked.  You tried to pull the blankets around you tighter, but Bec started barking loudly, the noise echoing through the house and piercing your ears. Begrudgingly, you sat up and walked to the living room, not bothering to try and make yourself look presentable.

Apparently, everyone else had woken up long before you. Nepeta was cooking pancakes, albeit burning them. The TV was on, some commercial in Spanish playing, Bec barking at the dog on screen.  Jade was trying to calm down Rose, who looked beyond pissed off at absolutely everything. That explained the door slamming, at least. The aura she gave off - in combination with the black and white dress she wore - made her look like some form of eldritch necromancer if they truly existed. Grimdark, if you had to give it a term.  After a closer look, you saw that she was bleeding and – was that a fucking hoof print on the side of her face?

Jade looked over at you. “’Morning, Eri.” She was wearing those weird wolf ear hairclips.

You nodded with confusion evident on your face. “’Morning. So, what the hell’s goin’ on with… all a’ this?” You attempted to gesture to the entire room.

“Nepeta was watching TV before she decided to make try and make breakfast. Rose just got here a few minutes ago.” Jade replied, yawning a bit afterwards. “There’s coffee if you want some.”

“Yeah, I’ll get to it.” You turned back to Rose. Her gaze met yours and you flinched back a bit at the murder in her lilac eyes, her glare failing to break as she took a sip of the blackest coffee you’d ever seen.

You poured yourself a glass in the mug Nepeta handed you, mixing in creamer and sugar until it was an acceptable shade of tan. You went to sit as far away from Rose as possible before speaking up. “So what brings you here?”

Rose took another long gulp before exhaling. “Mom brought a fucking pony home again. Let’s just say, our house is not made to house an undomesticated pony.”

You blinked. “’Again’?”

“This isn’t uncommon for her in her acts of drunken stupor.” She looked down morosely at the pitch liquid in her cup. “Don’t get me wrong. I love her, even when she’s like this. And she is trying to quit, but… she’s definitely not the best at overcoming addiction. I know she’s trying, I know. But it’s killing me, keeping up with it all, and I don’t want to move out in case she ends up hurting herself. I swear,sometimes it feels like _I’m_ her mother and _she’s_ my daughter, if that makes any sense.”

Jade pouted a bit. “No, I see what you mean. Maybe you should try hiding her keys or something when she tries to go out?”

Rose shook her head. “It wouldn’t change anything. She’s got plenty of wine in the cellar and there’s more than enough in those woods that she can fuck with.”

Rose and her mother lived further up the mountain, in the deeper parts of the pine forest. You knew she came down and visited Jade a lot when her mother started getting awful – ‘awful’ varying in intensity from forgetting to cook dinner to full-out aggrieving her daughter for trying to go outside and visit her cat’s grave.  

You tried to think of something encouraging to tell her, but it wasn’t easy when you were in a similar situation just last night. “Does she have a counselor or someone to coach her?”

Rose shook her head. “She did. It didn’t do much for her.” 

Nepeta handed everyone plates with half-burnt pancakes and sausage links. You watched her feed a few of the sausages to Becquerel, who wagged his tail happily in gratitude. She brushed a piece of highlighted brown hair behind her ear before coming over to sit next to Jade. “It sounds to me like you might have to move out, Rose. If your mom doesn’t have the willpaw-wer to pull through, then there is not much you can do.”

Rose looked on the verge of tears. “I know that, but she’s been there for me my whole life, I can’t just pack up and leave.”

You figured it was time to speak up. “If I were you, I’d get the fuck out a’ there before it gets worse, Rose. That horse – pony – whatever could’ve trampled an’ killed you. The only thing you can do now is get out an’ hope she finds a way to snap out of it once she realizes she’s lost her daughter.”

She shot daggers up at you again and you could’ve sworn that you saw black around her for a second. “Who the hell asked you? Why are you even here? I came here to talk to Jade and Nepeta. I couldn’t care less about what _you_ think I should do.”

Jade covered her mouth, aghast. “Rose…”

You narrowed your eyes, although you were a bit taken aback. “I’m here because my dad tried to kill me last night.”

Rose’s gaze softened a bit. “… Oh.”

“Yeah.”

She sighed and put her cup on the table. “I’m sorry for lashing out at you. I’m just… I don’t know how to handle this. I wish Roxy were here. She beat her addiction, maybe she could help mom. You’re right, though. I really shouldn’t be holding her back. She needs to learn to take care of herself before she bothers trying to help me, too.”

Jade nodded. “That’s it. Do you have anyone you can stay with? Besides us, I mean. We’re out of rooms unfortunately.”

Rose pulled out her phone. “I can call Araceli. I would stay with Kanaya, but she’s visiting her sister and mother for the month.”

Nepeta rolled her eyes. “You say that like we know who Araceli is.”

That earned her a smug grin. “You do. Just not by that particular name.”

Jade sighed. “Cryptic as ever.”

Rose chuckled. “Of course. I’m going to go out on the balcony to call if you don’t mind. I need a cigarette anyways.”

Jade blinked, a bit saddened. “You smoke?”

“Now I do.” She pulled out a box and got up, stopping by the sliding glass door to place the stick in between her lips. “If you had to deal with my mother’s shit, you would too.” She stepped outside, entering a number on her phone.

You turned back to your laptop and pulled it onto you, booting it up. “So what’s the Wi-Fi password here?”

Jade looked around nervously before muttering, “Yiffyiff23, all lowercase, no spaces.”

You looked up at her and cocked an eyebrow. “…Yiffyiff23?”

“Sh-shut up, I was tired. I bet your password was something dumb and historical like ‘ettubrute’.”  

You gulped.

Jade gave you a look of ‘holy shit’ and started cackling. “Oh my god, it is, isn’t it?”

You ignored her and connected to the internet, your cheeks a bit red in embarrassment. “I wasn’t the one who set the password, for the record.”

“Sure you weren’t,” she rolled her eyes.

You went ahead and checked your bank account.

Exactly how you predicted, there wasn’t a single penny left.

You didn’t notice Nepeta looming over your shoulder until she spoke up. “What catpunned to all your money? I thought you were super rich.”

“Dad withdrew it.” You forgot to breathe for a moment. You didn’t have any fallback or future now. No college, no place to go if Jade and Nepeta couldn’t let you stay for some reason, nothing. “I’m so fucked.”

You heard the door to the balcony open again as Rose stepped back inside. She looked a bit more pleased. “Araceli’s more than happy to let me stay with her. I just hope mom doesn’t get worse with me gone.”

Nepeta stood up straight and looked as if she had remembered something important. “Purrezi’s going to the skate park with Latula and Dave, and she invited us to go with her. You and Rose should come along, Ampurra. You both need to get outside and take a break with some friends.”

You looked up. “It’s alright for me to go even though I don’t know them very well?”

“I wouldn’t see why not. Purrezi is nicer than she looks.”

You shrugged. “Yeah, I guess I could go.”

She smiled. “Good. What about you Rose?”

The blonde looked up from her phone and nodded. “I likely won’t have anything better to do.”

Nepeta clapped her hands together excitedly. “I’ll let her know!” She ran off, probably to message Terezi from her computer.

Rose put her phone in a pocket on her dress and closed her eyes contently. “I’ll be heading back home then. Araceli said she’ll come and get me later tonight once I’ve packed and my mom’s gone to work. See you tomorrow, Jade, Eridan.”

“Bye,” you both ended up responding in unison, Jade giggling at the mishap.

 

You spent the rest of the day applying for jobs, both online and riding downtown on your bike. It was already nightfall by the time you got back. You ate your fill of the steak Nepeta cooked; apparently, she was better at cooking meat than she was at pancakes. You chatted with Jade and Nep a bit before going to bed, exhausted from having rode around all day.

At least this time you fell asleep knowing you weren't alone.


	3. Candies and Sopor

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> yeah idk this chapter probably didn't turn out as good as it could've bc i forgot a lot of stuff and i've never written half of these characters before lmao  
> we finally get into some plot next chapter, although its hinted here too  
> CW: misogyny, transphobia, everything you'd expect from caliborn's fuckboy ass, drugs

The next morning, you woke up at what you considered to be a reasonable time – 10 A.M. Jade and Nepeta were already wide awake; Jade was taking a shower according to Nepeta, who was already dressed in a striped beige sweater and black leggings, along with brown boots and fake cat ears. Ponce was on her lap, as always. She looked up at you and frowned.  
“You should purrobably dress betfur than that, you know.”

You gave her a look of ‘really now, you’re such a charmer’ before turning around and sighing as you went back to your room and began rifling through the backpack that held your only personal belongings.

Of course, none of the clothes were clean.

You dropped your hands to your side and growled in defeat. Standing up, you went back into the living room.  
“Nep.”

She glanced over at you. “Hmm?”

“You’re the same height as me, right? That means our clothes should be roughly the same size.”

She gave you a blank stare. “I don’t think that works the way you think it does.”

You shrugged. “It’s worth a shot.”

Nepeta stood up, placed Ponce on the floor, and sighed. “Fine. Do you care what type of outfit it is?”

“No.”

“Okay, I’ll be back in a second,” she ended, before walking off in the direction you guessed her room was in.

You decided to wash your face and brush your hair before trying to do anything else. You left your hair down rather than slicking it back; you hadn’t done so since your pretentious rich kid phase in middle school. If Jade hadn’t been taking a shower, you would’ve had one instead, considering you hadn’t had one since the night you ran away. Luckily you didn’t get dirty very easily, though you still put on deodorant just in case. You went back into the living room just as Nepeta did.

“Here, the pink looks kitty pawful on me, but it’ll probably look better on you, with the purple hair streak and all.” She handed you a dark blue – damn near black – jacket with pink accents, a slightly paler pink shirt, and black thigh highs with a matching skirt. You gave her a quick thanks before rushing to put the outfit on, hoping it would fit.

Luckily enough, it did fit, and surprisingly well.  It’d been a while since you had the chance to dress in effeminate clothing; your father certainly didn’t approve when you tried telling him you were nonbinary, and afterwards, made sure to constantly assert that you were male no matter how much it pissed you off. The truth was that you didn’t feel like you were male or female; if anything, you felt like you were both. You didn’t bother telling that to people you didn’t trust unless it was relevant, out of fear of either being judged or ridiculed. 

You put on the only other shoes you had, a pair of black boots. They went along with the outfit much better than your regular teal and violet canvas shoes. Grabbing your phone off the charger, you went back to the living room. Jade was on the couch this time, brushing her damp hair. Nepeta looked over to you and clapped.

“Good, it really does look better on you. C’mon, we don’t need to be late.” The last part seemed more directed at Jade, who rolled her eyes and stood up before giving Bec a quick pat on the head and stepping outside. You and Nepeta followed, the latter locking the door behind her.

“So where exactly are we going?” You questioned before getting into the backseat. Nepeta ended up driving; you’d never rode with her, but you had rode with Jade, which gave you the default assumption that _everyone_ was a better driver than Jade.

Jade answered you without looking up from her phone. You leaned over and saw teal text and leetspeak, signature quirks of Terezi. “Ouroboros. It’s this weird skate park mixed with a roller rink and café, and it’s just all around strange. Terezi thinks the place is suspicious; she thinks the manager might be using it to launder drug money. Apparently they’ve been investigating the guy for a while now. Goes by the street name Doc Scratch.”

You sat back and stared out the window. “So this isn’t so much of a friendly get together as it is an investigation?”

“Yep. Leave it to Terezi to investigate a stoner’s paradise ran by some creepy old guy with suspected pedophilic tendencies.”

The rest of the car ride went pretty normally, with regular chatter about who all was going to be there, along with a bit more on the Doc Scratch investigation that Terezi and her police colleagues were looking into. Apparently, he was – and possibly still is – a gang leader of a group called The Felt, rivals of another gang called The Midnight Crew, an old squad that had been running for decades. The conversation was cut off as Jade got a text from Rose telling her that she couldn’t be there, due to Araceli’s car breaking down. After that, nobody really said much, though it was mostly just because there simply wasn’t much to talk about.

The ride was surprisingly long. Alternia was a big city, and driving from the mountainside overlooks all the way to downtown could take forever during rush hour. The skate park stood out like a sore thumb in the dark and run-down portion of the city, the part of town where – if you took a walk at night – you could hear gunshots and police sirens echoing loudly through the air.

 The park had pitch black reflective metal surrounding it, accented with neon lights of all colors and highly contrasting abstract designs. Terezi, Latula, and Dave were already chatting outside; Terezi leaned against the wall, Dave smoking a cigarette, and Latula playing a DS. You and your newfound roommates stepped out of the car and walked over. You ended up following them a few feet back out of habit; you didn’t tend to like drawing much attention to yourself now days.

You were surprised to find Terezi in her normal outfit rather than her police uniform; she loved to wear it around town, for reasons unknown. At least you knew Terezi better than Nepeta, as she used to join in with your LARPing sessions. You knew she was trans, had a highly respected sheriff for a mother, is a police rookie herself, and was rivals with your step-sister. She went blind after Vriska joked around in a LARPing session with an actual flash grenade, likely stolen from your father’s military supplies he kept in the cellar for “defensive purposes”. Oddly enough, Terezi appeared to be a lot happier after losing her sight. She said her other senses heightened and that she could smell and taste colors instead. It was a little strange, but intriguing nonetheless. Jade and Nepeta went over to her and pulled her into a group hug, the two of them kissing her cheeks while she giggled and snorted gleefully.

“That’s enough of that, cat and dog. We’ve got very important shit to investigate today.”  Terezi clacked her cane on the ground and struck a pose that looked vaguely reminiscent of a Phoenix Wright game. “Today is the day we bust Mister Vanilla Milkshakes and all his disgusting sludge.”

Latula and Terezi led the way inside, the latter feeling the way with her cane. The inside was violently eye-straining, the carpet patterned in neon red-and-green spirals, the walls altering between green with red trim and red with green trim.

It wasn’t surprising to see Gamzee Makara passed out on one of the benches near the front door, although it looked like he was the only other person present. Terezi scented the air and cringed – be it from the assault of vibrant color or from the stench radiating off of the aforementioned stoner, you weren’t sure.

“Bluh. This place smells awful. Way too many scents. C’mon, let’s see just how the hell this place made some old guy rich.” Good, she didn’t seem to notice him. You - along with a lot of people in your group of friends - knew that she and Gamzee had been in an extremely abusive relationship in high school. Luckily, Terezi broke up with him the moment they graduated and moved to the opposite side of town to stay as far away from him as possible.

Latula frowned at her sister’s insult. “Hey, this place used to be pretty rad back in the day when me ‘n’ Tuna would come here. It’s just been hitting the shitter since they replaced the employment.”

Terezi shrugged in response. You looked around; the place was extremely unkempt, soda bottles littering the floor, the glass doors that led to the skate park fogged and opaque. Jade grabbed Nepeta’s arm and pulled her close, the two looking equally disgusted.

You nervously sat down at a booth near the café portion of the interior. Terezi, Nepeta, and Jade sat with you, filling the bright red seats.

Latula tapped her sister on the shoulder. “Aye, sista, give me some change, I’m gonna go beat all the high-scores on the arcade games.”

Terezi sighed and handed her several quarters, the older Pyrope bouncing away excitedly. Dave leaned on a table in half-assed attempt to look cool. “So what the hell is this Scratch guy slingin’ anyway?”

“Scratch himself isn’t slinging anything. He’s probably the guy that shows up at your doorstep when you fail to pay, screams ‘where’s my money bitch’ and then busts a cap in your ass. The product is some new green shit called Sopor, doesn’t really fall into a category. It’s definitely illegal, though. Effects are similar to a mix of LSD and weed. Makes you really tired and have some trippy-ass fever dreams paired with hallucinations. Apparently, the base ingredient is just some poultice they sell at pharmacies to help wounds and broken bones heal, but mix it with some chemicals and ya got Sopor slime. It’s extremely addictive.” She clicked her cane, eyes closed in thought behind her pointy red shades. “We also have reason to believe that Scratch and the Felt might’ve been involved in the Megido incident, but we aren’t positive.”

You felt a pang of sadness at the last sentence. Back in freshman year of high school, a shootout had occurred between the Megido family and some unidentified group. The place was burned down afterwards, and though no bodies were found, they weren’t seen again and were listed as legally dead.  Nobody knows what happened for sure, although there have been plenty of rumors. It was a pretty sensitive subject for most of the people that knew Ara, especially her for her brother, Sollux. You may have had a pretty awful disposition towards him, but you knew better than to bring up his sister’s death, unlike your step-sister, who knew no boundaries whatsoever.

You snapped back to the present when Jade bopped you on the head. You turned to her, annoyed.  
“C’mon, if we’re gonna sit here while Terezi snoops the place out, you bet your ass we’re getting some food.”

You rolled your eyes and stood up, following Jade and Nepeta to the counter. Terezi must’ve run off while you reminisced, though you easily relocated Dave attempting to fuck with Latula while she was gaming.

The kid at the counter looked beyond pissed to be working. He was short with feathery black hair and blood red eyes. He almost reminded you of Karkat, in a way, though the latter had brown hair.

“What the fuck do you hoes want?” Jesus, he sounded like one of those brats on Call of Duty. He cast a disgusted look towards you in particular and you tensed under his glare.

Nepeta furrowed her brow while Jade shot the kid – Caliborn, according to his name tag – a glare that could melt steel. She took a deep breath to calm herself before looking at the display of vivid candies and sweets. She glanced up, displeased. “You got anything else besides candy?”

Caliborn shot daggers at her, although the bright red bowtie and suspenders rendered his aggressive look pointless. “Look, bitch, the only inferiors who come here are stoners and dumb bimbos. The selection you see here is specially crafted to suit the needs of said stoners and their ‘munchies’.” You could fucking _feel_ the air quotes around munchies, even if the little shit’s arms were crossed the whole time. “The only things we serve at this establishment that won’t give you diabetes are Funyuns and Cheetos.”

 Before any of you could respond, Caliborn was shoved aside by a girl of the same height with short white hair, clad in an all-green outfit. Her name tag read Calliope. Twins, you guessed.

“I’m terribly sorry about my brother. We do serve other things, don’t worry!” Her voice was like a flute and tinted with a slight British accent. How old were these kids, anyway?

Caliborn roughly grabbed her arm and pushed her back through the door she came from. “Fuck off. I don’t need some lesser male taking my duties as the alpha.”

Calliope gave him a hurt look. “I’m not a boy, I’m a girl. How many times do I have to tell you that?”

“Oh, I’m sorry, would you prefer the term ‘massive bitch’? Piss off, whore.”

Terezi nudged you aside, nearly sending you to the ground. She put both hands on her cane, looking more pissed that you had ever seen her. “Is there a problem, delinquent? I’m surprised someone hasn’t fired you, with the way you treat your customers and fellow employee. I’m sure your manager would love some feedback from an enforcer of justice such as myself.”

“My father is in charge of the manager. He wouldn’t fire me.” Caliborn huffed proudly. “If you’re not going to make a purchase, then fuck off, peasants.” For a moment, you wondered if that’s what you were like during your rich kid phase.

You stepped back a bit, allowing Latula and Dave to rejoin the group. You didn’t really need a front row seat for whatever shit might go down.

Terezi gave a smug grin. “So, your manager; Doc Scratch, I believe. He’s got quite a name for himself.” She pulled a teal wallet with a red Libra symbol stitched to the front, opening it up and pulling out a police badge, though it was held backwards. She noticed right away - though you weren't sure how - and turned it around. “Anything you can tell me?”

“Can’t you see I’m busy here, tramp? For the last time, fuck off. I don’t give a shit what your ranking in this futile town is, for I know mine is far greater. And Scratch is a fucking underling in comparison to my father.”

Terezi’s expression grew more and more irritated with each passing second. “No, I _can’t_ see.” She tapped her glasses and cane. “I’m blind. But I digress. Thank you for the information, candy brat. I’ll be sure to put it to good use.” She felt the ground with her cane, accidentally whacking you and Nepeta in the legs. After figuring out a gap in the group, she weaved her way out. “Come on. Let’s blow this dump; I’ve got reports to make.”

Calliope ran back to the counter, pushing Caliborn away and ignoring his curses. “Wait! Before you go,” she pulled a piece of paper and a gray pen from one of the pockets on her outfit and hastily scribbled something down. “Here. You’re some of the better and more entertaining people I’ve seen come through here. I’d love to get to meet you all more.”  
Jade took the paper and smiled. “Thank you – Calliope, right? I’m Jade.”

The shorter girl nodded. “Yes, although some people call me Callie. I’m fine with either though. It was a pleasure meeting you, albeit for such a short time period.”

You looked over Jade’s shoulder at the paper; it had a chumhandle – uranianUmbra – along with a phone number. You weren’t really interested in trying to talk to the strange kid yourself, as you weren’t good at socializing to begin with, but you were glad that Jade appeared to have made a potential friend.

 

Everyone went their separate ways afterwards.  You, Terezi, and Nepeta went to get lunch before heading home, and while there wasn’t much else to do other than wash your clothes and play RPGs on your computer, you were grateful that you had plenty of new things to occupy your thoughts and keep you from stressing out as much.

Maybe moving forward wouldn’t be as difficult as you thought.


	4. The Dead Don't Speak

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> hey wow this is really late because of some emotional problems and technical difficulties regarding internet but here we are  
> we get sollux next chapter yeha  
> CW for chapter: smoking, uh, idk ask to add if theres anything else

“We’ll only be gone for a of couple weeks.”

“A couple a’ weeks is still a couple a’ weeks, Jade.”

“I haven’t seen John in over a year, okay? We won’t be gone forever, you know.”

“Still.”

“Don’t ‘still’ me, Eri. Now we have to go, the plane leaves in a couple hours. Remember to feed Bec and Pounce, alright?” 

“Yeah.”

And with that, Jade and Nepeta drove off to the airport. They were flying up to Washington – along with Dave and Rose – to visit Jade’s apparent long-lost-brother, John, and his relative Jane. It was for their birthday; a couple days from now, on the 13th. You still didn’t know all the details of how that entire clusterfuck of friends knew each other mutually, but you didn’t question it. 

You sighed and closed the door for them, walking back to your room and laying down. Now you didn’t have anything to do at all. 

It’d been a few months since the three of you went to check out Ouroboros alongside Terezi and the others. Not much had developed since then, other than the fact that Jade and Nepeta were both working now and managed to be able to keep you for a bit longer. You still felt like shit, though. You weren’t contributing at all and were simply dragging them down, as you did the rest of your friends. Every now and then you’d go look around town for a job, but none of them ever hired you. For the most part you stayed in bed during days when you felt like shit, only really getting up on days where you didn’t feel like dying. 

Jade seemed to be a bit more tolerant of your rampant emotions than Feferi, though. She understood that there were times when you couldn’t control how you felt about certain people and got irritated when you were spoken to by them. She’d leave you alone until you sought her out afterwards, and accompany when you needed to be distracted from your paranoia and constant reminiscence. Nepeta would talk to you every now and then, too, but for the most part she clung to Jade, leaving every now and then to go on dates with her and Terezi. You would’ve been pissed that they didn’t bring you along until Jade explained that the three of them were dating in a romantic manner. You’d felt embarrassed for bringing it up, especially after realizing that once you actually were out of the house and in public, you’d hate it.  
You turned to your phone after hearing Pesterchum ping with a new message.

\-- arachnidsGrip [AG] began pestering caligulasAquarium [CA] --

AG: Hey Eriiiiiiii.

CA: what the fuck do you want vris

AG: I’m sorry? I was under the impression that you enjoyed people acknowledging your existence.

AG: Pardon me for being the most caring sister in the world and checking in on my dearest step-brother~

CA: cut the sarcastic bullshit 

CA: what do you want

AG: Just thought I’d keep your dweeby ass up to date with what’s going down at home.

AG: Cronus actually – and I’m STILL shitting myself over how the hell it’s possible – managed to bag himself a boyfriend. 

CA: okay what the fuck

AG: Jealous? I really wouldn’t be.

CA: why

CA: who is it

AG: Kankri – fucking – Vantas.

CA: im not surprised really

CA: cro was the only one who ever gave him the time a day

AG: True. 

AG: Lamepora-senior has actually gotten a lot happier since he started seeing Vantas.

AG: It’s kind of cute, in a disgusting way.

AG: Anyway, just so you know, the ONLY reason I’m pissed that you left is because Dualshit has been cracking down on my ass extra hard. 

AG: Do you have ANY idea how many fucking irons I’ve got in my fire now????????

CA: i dont have to say it

AG: ALL OF THEM.

CA: wow how could i have ever fuckin guessed

AG: Anyway. 

AG: That’s all I’ve really got to tell, for now. I’ll keep you posted.

CA: please dont

AG: Fuck off. 

AG: Anyways, see ya later, Eridumbass! :::;)

\-- arachnidsGrip [AG] ceased pestering caligulasAquarium [CA] –

You tossed your phone to the side. At least Cronus was happier, and Vriska didn’t seem to be doing too terribly. Maybe they really were better off without you.

You ended up spending the rest of the day in a dreamless sleep. The next morning, you woke up far too early. The sun hadn’t risen as you stepped out into the main room, flipping on the lights to see that even Bec and Pounce were asleep, curled up together near the glass door to the balcony. How the hell a cat and a dog managed to get along so well – especially since they met after already being full grown – you weren’t sure. 

You filled up their respective food bowls, surprised that not even that woke them up. Lazy shits. You watered Jade’s exotic plants before sitting down and wondering just what the fuck you were supposed to donow. You’d read through all the history books you brought with you at least three times, and you didn’t feel like having to explain every dungeon to whatever group you joined on any of your MMOs. 

Eventually the sun rose, though it was masked by gray clouds and foggy weather. You sort of wanted to go outside. You didn’t know why, maybe the damp air would help you realize that you weren’t as dead as you felt. 

You threw on a scarf and contacts before you left. You didn’t bother sticking to the road, more entertained by stepping on the peaty ground covered in burgundy pine needles. After your uppity rich kid phase ended, you stopped caring so much about cleanliness and perfection. You supposed that it rooted from the fact that you couldn’t remember to take care of yourself after a certain point and time. With your father constantly negating your efforts and you having to shove your own interests aside for everyone else, you weren’t exactly in the best mind state to keep holding up a prideful bravado.

The thing was, only a few people at your school knew that you weren’t like that intentionally. Most of them just immediately wrote you up as a huge douchebag without ever bothering to talk to you further. Even those who knew you better probably faked their way through the friendship. 

You shook the thoughts from your mind, nearing a small corner store on a rarely used road. You ended up running the rest of the way, scattered drops of rain beginning to fall.   
It was a fairly small shop from the inside, stocked up in a way that almost made it seem dirty at first glance. Blue-lit glass doors holding dozens of different drinks from alcohol to juice pouches lined the back wall. Posters, all of seemingly random subjects were hung along the white bricks. 

You looked through the different items being sold. Most of it candy and sweets, along with chips and sandwiches, and a few other miscellaneous objects filling empty gaps. 

You scanned through the shelves for a full minute before you realized that you didn’t even want to buy anything; that you just came to the store for the sake of going outside. You frowned and grabbed a soda so that you didn’t have to walk home empty handed and feel like you wasted another hour of your life.

At the counter stood a short, chubby woman with mid-length and straightened dark russet hair. She looked content, if not rather bored. You placed the bottle on the counter, trying not to make eye contact.

“That it?”

You nodded, not wanting to have to say anything unless you had to. 

She scanned the bottle, her movements nearly robotic in nature. “A dollar seventy-six.” 

You felt your pockets before freezing up, remembering that you didn’t have any money, or even a wallet. “I-uh,” You stuttered, searching for words that refused to come to mind. “I- don’t hawe any money w-with me.” And of course, to top it all off, your speech impediment resurfaced. Real fucking smooth. A-plus social skills.

The woman at the counter tipped her head to the side, a look of realization spreading over her face soon afterwards. “Eridan?”

You blinked, still shivering. “D-do I know-w you or somethin’?” Now that you had more time to look at her, she did look slightly familiar, but you couldn’t place a name. 

She gave you a rather creepy grin. “You used to. Lots of people used to.”

“W-what the fuck are you talkin’ about?”

“The name ‘Aradia Megido’ ring any bells?”

Then it clicked. You stepped back a bit. “Ara?”

“It’s Ara _celi_ , actually.” She smiled happily. 

You grimaced. So that’s what Rose meant. You looked back up at the ghost in front of you. “I thought you died?”

She fiddled with a burgundy Aries necklace around her tan neck. “Ain’t that just the way?” She took a glance at her phone. “Today seems pretty slow, so how about I close up and we go to my place? I can explain a great deal of things when we get there.”

You tried sorting through all the different possibilities in your head, to no avail. “Is there a fuckin’ assassin waiting for me?”

Aradia – or rather, Araceli – giggled. “No. That would be pretty cool, though.” She stepped around the counter and motioned for you to follow her. You felt unnerved. This was some fucking CSI shit, and you were being dragged into it. Yet, you felt compelled to follow her, to wait for her to close the store, and to get in the car next to her, fidgeting uneasily the entire time. 

Nothing about her would stand out to a passerby. Hell, you didn’t even know who she was at first. Her car was clean, and she herself looked like just another person you might pass in the store and not bother to give a second glance, but the fact that she, her sister, and mother were legally dead left an unshakable sense of dread in you.   
You tried to space out, at least attempting to calm down. Thunder cracked and made you jump, although Aradi – Arace – Ara, didn’t even seem to notice it. 

“Crazy all this rain we’ve been getting, hunh? April showers and what not.” 

You didn’t respond. You weren’t sure how she managed to be so casual when she’s presumed dead by all her old friends and distant family. 

She pulled up to a normal house, a two-story beige building with only one other car parked outside. Nothing made it stand out from the other houses on the street.

You followed her inside, ignoring the light rain that dampened your clothes. Inside, the house was quiet, except for the ticking of a clock, although you couldn’t find a source. Ara threw her keys carelessly aside, sitting on a maroon couch, taking her shoes off and patting the spot beside her. You ignored the gesture and sat with a gap between the two of you. 

“So, you want the long story or the short story?” She yawned, placing loose strands of burgundy hair behind her ears. 

You felt compelled by a mix of curiosity and confusion to know the full version. “Long story. What the fuck happened?”

Ara sighed. “My mom has a nasty past with some big name people. Said people hired hit men to come and kill off my mom. Set our house on fire. We got out, as you can see. But mom wanted us to have a second chance, to be able to live without having to check over our shoulders for mercenaries every five seconds. Apparently, while she was with my dad, she managed to get her hands on some fake identities that we could fall back on. So when we broke out of the house, we ran. Ditched our old names, got some minor appearance alterations, practiced masking our voices – whatever we could. We’ve done our best to leave no traces of who we used to be. The Megidos are dead. This is who we are now.”

You blinked, trying to process the overflow of information. “Does anyone else know?”

“Only a few people. Rose, Equius, and my dad, but all of them have been forced to keep quiet. Kurloz knows too for some reason, but I don’t think we have to worry about him saying anything ever, if you know what I mean.” 

You’d heard about Kurloz from Cronus and passed him once or twice. He’d had sewn his mouth shut in high school. He was a senior when you were a freshman, so you never really had the time to learn what happened. There were plenty of rumors, though; your brother claimed that he sewed it shut when his girlfriend Meulin lost her hearing, while others claimed that it was a rite of passage for a cult that the Makaras were involved in. You didn’t care enough to find out the truth.

You nodded, pressing on. “You said your dad knows. What about Sollux an’ Mituna?” 

She shook her head. “I’ve passed them in the store before. They didn’t recognize me. Personally, I view it as a good thing. I don’t really want to know how they’d react to finding out their dead mother and sisters have been living happily for years.”

You narrowed your eyes. “You mean you’ve just been letting them go on without even so much as tellin’ them that you’re okay?” You didn’t care much for either of the younger Captors – or any of them for that matter – but for Ara to cut them out of her life completely seemed more than a little fucked up, especially considering how their ‘deaths’ affected them, particularly Sollux. “They have a right to know what really happened.”

She glared at you, the brown in her eyes burning closer to a rust red. “And what am I going to say to them? ‘Hey, I know you’ve been mourning our deaths for years now but that’s all over now because we never really died and just sorta left you writhing in the throes of grief’? Yeah, somehow I don’t think that would go over well.” She cast her gaze elsewhere, sighing melancholically. “It’s not like I don’t care about them anymore. I just don’t know how to confront them and tell them the truth. It’s just a lot easier like this. If I tried to message Sollux over Pesterchum, he’d probably freak out and think someone was playing a really fucked up joke on him.” 

You frowned, still unsatisfied. “Whatever happened to that nihilistic phase you had after Vris hospitalized you? Can’t you be that person again long enough to be brutally honest with him?”

She feigned a giggle at that, shaking her head. “I’m not that person anymore. I’m nothing like who I used to be. For a long time, after that incident, I actually wanted to die. I was empty as fuck, practically soulless, and couldn’t bring myself to care about anything. I’d follow orders blindly without hesitation.” She stared at the floor, her hair falling out of place and regaining the waviness it had years ago. “But let me tell you one thing. Nothing will give you a wake-up call like watching your own funeral from a distance under someone else’s name.” She furrowed her brows a bit, rubbing her eyes. “I can feel again, and I refuse to ever die, metaphorically or otherwise.”

You turned your head at the sound of footsteps, finding a slightly older and much thinner woman stepping down the staircase. Her hair was pinned back in an extremely sloppy bun, her face gaunt and accented with worn-out makeup. You assumed that she was Ara’s older sister, Damara, although you only saw her once. She sat down beside you, not even acknowledging your presence, and grabbed half of a cigarette from the ash tray on the table before walking outside, slamming the door behind her. 

Ara gestured toward the door. “Damara; or rather, Dani. Unfortunately, she’s gotten a lot worse since our little incident. Sleeps most of the day, gets up really late at night and leaves to do god knows what. Comes back bloody and bruised, or in someone else’s clothes. It’s awful to watch, but she refuses to talk to us, so there isn’t much we can do to help.” She looked around, shrugging. “Not sure where mom is.”   
Dani walked back in a few moments later and asked Ara something in what you were pretty sure was Japanese. The latter gave a half-hearted reply and waved her off. Dani turned to you and smacked her hand down on your shoulder, making you flinch involuntarily. The older girl chuckled lowly and walked back upstairs, the scent of cigarette smoke still lingering behind her. 

“W-what w-was that about?” You breathed. Unexpected physical contact fucked with you in more ways than you’d ever admit to someone you didn’t fully trust.

Ara shrugged. “She just wanted to know who you were. She asked if we’re dating, though those weren’t the exact words she used.” She rolled her eyes before adding, “Guess she still hasn’t figured out that I don’t care for either of the attractions that she was implying.” 

You nodded before standing up, crossing your arms. “Well, like it or not, I’m tellin’ Sol that you’re okay.” 

“You’ll come back with a bloody nose.” 

“That’ll happen sooner or later anyways.” People always tended to find an excuse to beat your ass. You figured that this wouldn’t be any different, especially considering how often you fought with Sol in school.

Ara sighed, standing up and grabbing the keys she threw earlier, handing them to you. “I’ll write his address down for you. You can take my car; I don’t plan on going anywhere today.”

You took her keys and the paper with Sol’s address. “I’ll bring him back kickin’ an’ screamin’ if I have to, but this is going to happen, dammit.”

 

 


End file.
